Dick Tracy is a 1990 American crime action film based on the 1930s comic strip created by Chester Gould. Warren Beatty produced, directed and starred in the film, whose supporting cast includes Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly and Charlie Korsmo, with appearances by Dustin Hoffman, James Keane, Charles Durning, William Forsythe, Seymour Cassel, Paul Sorvino, Mandy Patinkin, Catherine O'Hara, Ed O'Ross, James Caan, James Tolkan, Michael J. Pollard, Henry Silva, R.G. Armstrong, Estelle Parsons and Dick Van Dyke. Dick Tracy depicts the detective's romantic relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Trueheart, as well as his conflicts with crime boss Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice and his henchmen. Tracy also begins fostering a young street urchin named Kid.
Development of the film began in the early 1980s with Tom Mankiewicz assigned to write the script. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. The project also went through directors Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Walter Hill and Richard Benjamin before the arrival of Beatty. It was filmed mainly at Universal Studios. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the score, and the film's music was featured on three separate soundtrack albums.
Dick Tracy premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 1990, and was released nationwide five days later. Reviews ranged from favorable to mixed, with positive comments on the performances (particularly Pacino and Madonna), production design, make up effects, music, and Beatty's direction, but negative ones on the screenplay and characterization. The film was a success at the box office and with several award committees. It garnered seven Academy Award nominations, winning in three of the categories: Best Original Song, Best Makeup and Best Art Direction. Dick Tracy has since gained a considerable cult following, and is remembered for its visual style.
Plot In 1938, a young street kid witnesses the massacre of a group of mobsters at the hands of Flattop and Itchy, two hoods on the payroll of Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, who leave a bullet-riddled message for police detective Dick Tracy. After catching the Kid in an act of petty theft and rescuing him from a menacing tramp, Tracy temporarily adopts him with the help of his girlfriend, Tess Trueheart.
Meanwhile, Big Boy coerces rival mobster Lips Manlis into signing over the deed to Club Ritz, then kills Lips with a cement overcoat known as "The Bath" and steals his girlfriend, the sultry singer Breathless Mahoney. Interrogating Flattop, Itchy, and fellow hired gun Mumbles, Tracy arrests Big Boy but the evidence against him proves inconclusive. Big Boy goes free, and District Attorney John Fletcher threatens Tracy's job.
Breathless, the only witness to Lips' murder, is unwilling to testify against Big Boy and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Tracy. He follows her to the club, where Big Boy presents the city's head criminals with a plan to unite them all under his leadership. Mob boss Spud Spaldoni refuses and is killed with a carbomb, and Tracy narrowly escapes. The next day, Big Boy and his henchmen capture Tracy and attempt to bribe him, but he rebuffs them. The criminals leave Tracy to die in a boiler explosion, but he is saved by the Kid, who receives an honorary detective certificate with badge.
The corrupt Fletcher is revealed to be in Big Boy's pocket, while Breathless visits Tracy in another attempt to seduce him, and Tess witnesses them kiss. "The Blank", a mysterious figure with no face, uses the club's piano player 88 Keys to bring Big Boy an offer to eliminate Tracy for a cut of Big Boy's profits. Tracy leads a seemingly unsuccessful raid on Club Ritz, which is actually a diversion to hide Officer "Bug" Bailey inside with a covert listening device. Listening in on Big Boy's criminal activities, Tracy and the police all but wipe out the unified criminal organization.
However, Big Boy discovers the bug and lures Tracy into an ambush, but Tracy rescues Bailey and is himself saved by the Blank. A furious Big Boy accepts the Blank's offer, while a heartbroken Tess leaves the city. In love with Tracy, Breathless agrees to testify if he gives in to her advances, but Tracy cannot bring himself to betray Tess, who has a change of heart and returns home. Tess is kidnapped by the Blank, who subdues Tracy and, with the help of 88 Keys, kills Fletcher and frames an unconscious Tracy.
With Tracy behind bars, Big Boy terrorizes the city in a lucrative crime wave while also accused of kidnapping Tess. Taken to the city orphanage, the Kid adopts the name "Dick Tracy, Jr." and reunites with Tracy, who is released by his colleagues on New Year's Eve. Interrogating Mumbles again, Tracy and the police surround Club Ritz, where the Blank has left Tess to frame Big Boy for her kidnapping. In the ensuing gun battle, Big Boy's men are killed while Big Boy takes the captive Tess hostage and escapes to a drawbridge.
Tying Tess to the gears, Big Boy is confronted by Tracy, and they are held at gunpoint by the Blank, who offers to share the city with Tracy once they kill Big Boy. Distracted by Junior, the Blank is shot by Big Boy before Tracy sends Big Boy falling down a shaft to his death. Rescuing Tess, Tracy unmasks the Blank to reveal a mortally wounded Breathless, who kisses Tracy before dying. Later, Tracy proposes to Tess but is interrupted by a police dispatch, and leaves her with the ring as he and Junior respond to the call.
Cast
Main characters Warren Beatty as Dick Tracy: a square-jawed, fast-shooting, hard-hitting, and intelligent police detective sporting a yellow overcoat and fedora. He is heavily committed to breaking the hold that organized crime has on the city. In addition, Tracy is in line to become the chief of police, which he scorns as a "desk job". Al Pacino as Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice: the leading crime boss of the city. Although he is involved with numerous criminal activities, they remain unproven, as Tracy has never been able to catch him in the act or find a witness to testify. Madonna as Breathless Mahoney: an entertainer at Club Ritz who wants to steal Tracy from his girlfriend. She is also the sole witness to several of Caprice's crimes. Glenne Headly as Tess Trueheart: Dick Tracy's girlfriend. She feels that Tracy cares more for his job than for her. Charlie Korsmo as "The Kid": a young, scrawny street orphan who survives by eating out of garbage cans, and is a protege of Steve the Tramp. He falls into the life of both Tracy and Trueheart, and becomes an ally. He becomes Tracy's protege then, adopting the name "Dick Tracy, Jr.".
Law enforcement James Keane as Pat Patton: Tracy's closest associate and second-in-command Seymour Cassel as Sam Catchem: Tracy's closest associate and third-in-command Michael J. Pollard as "Bug" Bailey: a surveillance expert Charles Durning as Chief Brandon: the chief of police who supports Tracy's crusade Dick Van Dyke as District Attorney John Fletcher: a corrupt district attorney who refuses to prosecute Caprice as he is on Caprice's payroll Frank Campanella as Judge Harper Kathy Bates as Mrs. Green: a stenographer
The mob
Dustin Hoffman as "Mumbles": Caprice's unintelligible henchman William Forsythe as "Flattop": Caprice's top hitman. His most distinguishing feature is his square, flat cranium and matching haircut Ed O'Ross as "Itchy": Caprice's other hitman. He is usually paired with Flattop James Tolkan as "Numbers": Caprice's accountant Mandy Patinkin as "88 Keys": a piano player at Club Ritz who becomes The Blank's minion R. G. Armstrong as "Pruneface": a deformed crime boss who becomes one of Caprice's minions Henry Silva as "Influence": Pruneface's sinister top gunman Paul Sorvino as "Lips" Manlis: the original owner of Club Ritz and Caprice's mentor Chuck Hicks as "The Brow": a criminal with a large, wrinkled forehead Neil Summers as "Rodent": a criminal with a pointed nose, small eyes, and buck teeth Stig Eldred as "Shoulders": a criminal with broad shoulders Lawrence Steven Meyers as "Little Face": a criminal with a big head and a small face Jim Wilkey as "Stooge" Viller, another criminal James Caan as "Spud" Spaldoni: a crime boss who refuses to submit to Caprice Catherine O'Hara as "Texie" Garcia: a female criminal who submits to Caprice Robert Beecher as "Ribs" Mocca: a criminal who submits to Caprice
Others Rita Bland, Lada Boder, Dee Hengstler, Liz Imperio, Michelle Johnston, Karyne Ortega and Karen Russell as Breathless Mahoney's dancers at Club Ritz Lew Horn as "Lefty" Moriarty Mike Hagerty as Doorman Arthur Malet as Diner Patron Bert Remsen as The Bartender Jack Kehoe as Customer at Raid Michael Donovan O'Donnell as McGillicuddy Tom Signorelli as Mike: proprietor of the diner Tracy frequents Mary Woronov as Welfare Person
Estelle Parsons portrays Tess Trueheart's mother. Tony Epper plays Steve "The Tramp". Hamilton Camp appears as a store owner, and Bing Russell plays a Club Ritz patron. Robert Costanzo has a cameo as Lips Manlis's bodyguard, and Marshall Bell briefly appears as a goon of Big Boy Caprice who poses as an arresting officer to ensnare Lips. Allen Garfield, John Schuck and Charles Fleischer make cameos as reporters. Walker Edmiston, John Moschitta Jr. and Neil Ross provide the voices of each radio announcer. Colm Meaney appears as a police officer at Tess Trueheart's home. Mike Mazurki (who played Splitface in the original Dick Tracy film) appears in a small cameo, as Old Man at Hotel. Ninety-three-year-old veteran character actor Ian Wolfe plays his last film role as "Munger".
Production Development Beatty had a concept for a Dick Tracy film in 1975. At the time, the film rights were owned by Michael Laughlin, who gave up his option from Tribune Media Services after he was unsuccessful in pitching Dick Tracy to Hollywood studios. Floyd Mutrux and Art Linson purchased the film rights from the Tribune in 1977, and, in 1980, United Artists became interested in financing and distributing Dick Tracy. Tom Mankiewicz was under negotiations to write the script, based on his previous success with Superman and Superman II. The deal fell through when Chester Gould, creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, insisted on strict financial and artistic control.
That same year, Mutrux and Linson eventually took the property to Paramount Pictures, which began developing screenplays, offered Steven Spielberg the director's position, and brought in Universal Pictures to co-finance. Universal put John Landis forward as a candidate for director, courted Clint Eastwood for the title role, and commissioned Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. to write the screenplay. Eastwood turned down the role because he didn't see himself portraying another detective. "Before we were brought on, there were several failed scripts at Universal," reflected Epps, "then it went dormant, but John Landis was interested in Dick Tracy, and he brought us in to write it." Cash and Epps' simple orders from Landis were to write the script in a 1930s pulp magazine atmosphere, and center it with Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice as the primary villain. For research, Epps read every Dick Tracy comic strip from 1930 to 1957. The writers wrote two drafts for Landis; Max Allan Collins, then-writer of the Dick Tracy comic strip, remembers reading one of them. "It was terrible. The only positive thing about it was a thirties setting and lots of great villains, but the story was paper-thin and it was uncomfortably campy."